POLITICAL COLUMN

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Mark Penn released a memo saying that Clinton’s having “withstood the full brunt” of the Republican attack machine is “one of the key arguments for Hillary’s candidacy.”
John Shinkle

One of Hillary Clinton’s last lines of defense against the onslaught that is Barack Obama is the notion that she has been “vetted” and he has not.

All the bad stuff that can be thrown at her already has been, she argues, and that gives her an advantage over Obama.

As Clinton said this week in a televised Politico/WJLA interview: “One thing you know about me is that I have been vetted. I’ve been through this. I understand exactly what is coming at me, and there isn’t any new information. I mean, it’s just more of the same. It’s been recycled over and over again. I don’t think we can say that about my opponent.”

And, indeed, on Monday, Mark Penn, her chief strategist, released a memo saying that Clinton’s having “withstood the full brunt” of the Republican attack machine is “one of the key arguments for Hillary’s candidacy.”

I think that may be wishful thinking.

First, even if one assumes all the old accusations about Clinton have been put to rest — a dubious point — she keeps raising new questions about herself.

Take the matter of her tax returns. Obama has released his, and Clinton won’t release hers, she says, until after she is the Democratic nominee.

Why? She gives no reason. She says she files an ethics statement with the Senate, which is true, but so does Obama, and yet he also has released his tax returns. Clinton refuses to do so until after the Democratic convention.

Does this make sense to anybody? If she is going to do it eventually, why not do it now, while Democrats are still voting on her?

Keeping the returns secret just raises doubts and suspicions and kicks a hole in the case that she has been fully vetted.

But Obama also suffers from a little wishful thinking in believing that everything in his past has been fully explored and responded to.

“Look, I have been written about, I have been scrubbed, I have been vetted over the last year,” Obama said on “Meet the Press” in December.

But he really hasn’t. Nobody has. And that is because, in presidential politics, you never get “scrubbed.”

Your past is dug up, reshaped and used against you.

Just in case the name no longer rings a bell, Willie Horton was a convicted murderer who was granted 10 weekend furloughs from prison in Massachusetts under the administration of Gov. Michael Dukakis.

The 10th time, Horton fled to Maryland, broke into a home, repeatedly slashed a man with a knife and beat and raped the man’s fiancée. Horton was caught and sentenced to two consecutive life terms plus 85 years.

By the time Dukakis ran for president, he had already been “vetted” and “scrubbed” on the matter of Willie Horton and was sure it could not be used against him. The Lawrence, Mass., Eagle-Tribune had done more than 200 stories about it in 1987. And when Al Gore raised the issue in a New York primary debate against Dukakis, the Democratic crowd booed Gore and applauded Dukakis.

The issue never came up again in the primaries. But it sure came up in the general election, with a new spin. “The Horton case is one of those gut issues that are value issues, particularly in the South,” Lee Atwater, who was George H.W. Bush’s campaign manager, told me at the time. “And if we hammer at these over and over, we are going to win.”

Similarly, John Kerry’s Vietnam War service on a Swift boat had been raised against him for decades, and nobody gave it any credence. But it resurfaced in a new and virulent way when he ran for president.

The point I am making is that in a general election, no candidates get a pass on the past. They only think they do.

If John McCain gets the nomination, we are going to hear that he was turned into a “Manchurian candidate” when he was a prisoner of war. If Obama wins the nomination, we are going to hear a lot more about Tony Rezko and the Exelon Corp. And if Clinton is the nominee, get ready for a reprise of Whitewater and her cattle future trading, to name just two.

In presidential politics, the past is not just prologue. It’s ammunition.

Readers' Comments (829)

The problem with Hilary is she can not see fault in herself in any way or form, the "sackings" (please don't tell me resignations) this week of her two top campaign leaders is a perfect example. Hilary's past is not going to be completely "squeaky" clean, the going's on of husband Billy in the White House will never be forgotten. Vetted, I'm sure their is much more to be revealed about her but Obama has not been nasty like the Clinton's. The tax returns secrecy is a major problem, it seems it something she is not comfortable about, why? come clean Hilary!

Hillary Clinton is deluded if she thinks that she has been throughly vetted and therefore passes the test. The fact remains, she refuses to release her tax returns, has a litany of past scandals and simply cannot be trusted. Ms Clinton has failed the character test and is not fit to be President.

Dems beware--"when Al Gore raised the issue the Democratic crowd booed Gore... The issue never came up again in the primaries. But it sure came up in the general election, with a new spin."--plus total fabrication is an option. Rove saying the Iraq war was the fault of the Dems in congress is one example. Even if his statement is discredited, it's out there, and helps Obama's case against Clinton re her Iraq war vote. Obama seems to have few if any skeletons, but the swiftboaters will say/invent anything to create doubt about him. Who knows what they will come up with against Clinton. But Obama is vulnerable on lack of experience against McCain, esp. if Bush-Cheney make terrorism more and more of an issue in the general--the Gitmo trials--and who knows what else! A platform of "I was against the war" will seem increasingly irrelevant, and even weak in terms of national security.

What a naive young man Mr.Obama must be...as long as he has a brother, sister, cousin, uncle, preacher, en-law or best friend...that has in anyway been controversial or a hint of anti American or white supremacy activisim...It will be effectively used....will it work? It ususally does.

The international media have been reporting on the exploits of her husband and daughter when they've been outside the US for years. Mrs Clinton assumes that most Americans are too stupid/lazy to read the international press, and the American media seem to have given the family a 'pass'. The Repubs will definitely have this ammo in their back pockets.

The Clintons could be sandblasted and then gone over with steel wool and Clorox and they would still come out covered with gunk that will feed the Republican machine.....I, for one, am not inclined to enter into the most important presidential race of my life with all of their "history".

I am amazed at the degree to which the entire Billary electorate is in denial. YOU ARE DONE! HOUSE CLEANING OF THE DNC COMMENCES JAN 09 starting with the African-American poltical cronies of the Billary Machine. GOODBYE SHEILA JACKSON LEE!!

Vetted? Hilda? I guess she missed her distemper booster last time. Vetted! Oh please, the clintons have covered up so much in their past and have conveniently destroyed so much, they are a joke. The Clinton LIEbrary (ya know that double wide trailer in Arkansas) refuses to release any of the papers associated with the Clintons. they say it will be available in 2012 for God's sake! Oh and Hilda says she has NO control over the release of these papers. What a liar! I guess if you are a pathelogical liar you tend to believe that others are like you.

Buddy, that is easier said than done. I am from Houston and for some weird reason they love Sheila and her push to give hurricane's ethnic names. She does little for her district other than showing up in front of any camera available. It is funny to me.

This was a good article. But when Obama says he thinks he's clean, I really just think he's paying lip service to those of us who don't realize yet what the author of this article points out. Basically, I think he's just one-upping Clinton's claim even though he knows reality (for both of them) is way different. Hillary and McCain aren't idiots either by any means. Not one of them has forgotten 2004. They may tell us what they think their supporters want to hear: "I'm clean!" But they know better and are probably preparing for worse. McCain already had his buster-hotline in South Carolina, remember? Clinton is definately got to be prepared. We Obama supporters just have to hope our candidate is himself ready. He's played the game so far very well in the primaries... He hasn't underestimated Clinton, yet, so hopefully he won't underestimate the right-wing attack machine.

As much as I hope politics in this country change in the future, still gotta deal with the way politics are now.

I am from Houston as well. If, in the next election for SJL's seat, an African-American runs against SJL and that opponent gets support from Obama (which he/she will most likely receieve) SJL will be finished. And not a moment too soon. It will be interesting to monitor SJL's visbility in these last few weeks before the Texas primary. She, by association, is engaged in the fight for her political life as a result of hitching her wagon to Billary as their "national campaign chairperson". Nothing torpedos a political career more than taking a position that is in direct conflict with 85% of your constituency's position. GOODBYE SJL!!!!!

you would think if someone is running for PRESIDENT then all of their info is free game. they are representing 250+million people. and have alot of control of our lives. one would think they would give us ALL the info we need to elect the right president. WE need to demand this info